Tomas’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Tomas’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

"Although with Amazon, you can not post a review unless you have spent over $50.00 on the purchase of books."

I don't consider this a big problem. Even if you buy e-books at around $4, that's one book a month to meet that point. It's not the most elegant solution to stop review manipulation via bot accounts with no purchase history, but I guess it works well enough.

This is a place to discuss promotion tactics, not to push your books. Read the group rules first. Post removed.

You should read the group rules. This isn't the place to promote your books. Post deleted.

OK, I'm back again. Some time ago, I mentioned how I used the famous "damn, you're ugly" quite from the Witcher 3 game.

This time, in another rework of a scene, I recalled the scene in one of the Resident Evil movies where one of the scientists mutates into a tentacled monstrosity and, as he corners Alice, he says something like "I thought you were the future, but I'm the future" just before the laser traps turns him into a puddle of minced meat. I took a bit of inspiration - in the scene, a warlock uses shadow magic to mutate into a half-demon. This time, a very short snippet:

“Gaze at me, Darkwood,” Eclipse rumbled, his voice gaining a dark echo with his transformation. “I am a power incarnate. I am the future.”

In all honesty, I think that's Goodreads as a whole - the site is simply outdated in many aspects of its design. Hell, even the phpBB forum system that was used in the early 2000s is miles ahead of GR when it comes to discussions, especially referencing other comments.

Phillip, the second one reminds me of one "fun" fact - the metallic noises typical for the Terminator movies were, supposedly, recorded by hitting frying pans with a hammer.

Also, it's hard to imagine this thread is over 5 years old by now. We need more quotes!

I'm not-so-happy to share that you didn't read the group rules, especially the "no promotion of any kind" and thus I'm removing your post.

To add context to my reply from yesterday - I see no issue in using AI but I'm not using it myself, in case it wasn't clear. It still has flaws so I'd definitely be cautious if I got to the point I would try it. I see a risk in losing any kind of personal "voice".

As for the use of AI in corrections and such, I see no problem with that myself. Spellcheck even in software like MS Word has been improving over the years, no longer only pointing out obvious typos but also things like commas, different tenses in a single sentence, and more. It's still nowhere near perfect, but it's more than I remember in my early years with a computer 20 years ago. Tech will evolve and given how costly editors are (as far as I've heard), this is one task where AI can help - if used responsibly.

Now, I guess to introduce myself - I guess it's fine to call me Tom, though I use a pen name "Tomas K. Grizzly". The story I'm working on is based on a bunch of random ideas I had in my teens (so the 2000s) but I only started trying to weave them into a consistent story in the 2010 - as an attempt to overcome one-sided love when nothing else helped. What I write is sword-and-sorcery fantasy of a bit more adult leaning (nowhere near GoT, but I'm not shying from being a bit more explicit when it comes to intimate thoughts and actions of the characters).
I finished the first book in 2020 and originally hoped to have the full trilogy completed by 2025, but life got in the way and I barely worked on it in the last 2 years so I'm still in process of drafting the second book with no ETA, and have only a very early draft of book three.

I admit that I didn't think I'd ever got involved with writing until I did, as I was always seen as a rational person, nt an ary person. Especially given my interest in watching nature and tech documentaries. But I guess life takes us down some unexpected paths.

I've been more active on Goodreads at some points in time, but that hasn't been the case since facing major writer's block in 2023, but I'm trying to get myself to check back here and there.

I'm back after a long time. A snippet from Eternity's End, the third book of my in-progress trilogy (yes, the second book still isn't finished).
Context: Tyr'eshal (the MC of my story) is talking with Gar'nesh and Crishael (members of the dragons' leading council) about trying an idea he's had, and one of the dragons suggests a field test. In the second book, Tyr'eshal briefly experiences flying on a dragon's back and isn't exactly fond of the sensation.

“Gosh, I wished I’d never sit on a dragon’s back ever again,” Tyr’eshal commented.
“Do you want to walk?” Crishael asked him. “Or waste energy teleporting there and then back to see it’s working?”
“No.”
Crishael crouched down. “Then climb on my back and let’s have this done with."

Writing on a larger scale while being self-published is definitely possible, but only if the majority of your audience is going digital. D.K.Homlberg or Michael Arenson (some of the big names among self-pub fantasy and SF authors) release several books each year, and they're self-published. And the main reason why this is working for them is because they developed (almost) fully digital audience. So all the side stuff King has to deal with (printing and distribution of physical copies) is just... skipped.

So, self-publishing probably won't work if someone developed an audience that's mostly in physical books. But authors that made their career being digital don't need a publisher because they can just build their own team. As far as I know, Holmberg is working on 2-3 projects (each "project" means a series of 5-8 books) a year with a personal team of beta readers, editors, etc.

Not sure if it counts, but I made a couple of one-page comics featuring my Lego Bionicle figures, around 6-8 pictures each. I have maybe 10-20 pages, hard to remember, as they were all accidentally thrown into recycling several years ago.

For me, it was a combination of reasons.
First, the idea of querying a book was nauseating to me. Especially as I was looking for a job, and that process is mentally draining. Querying a book is very similar. And, just as with searching for a job, it's not just about your skills. Whether your book is accepted or not is more about whether they believe they can sell the story with minimal effort (and costs) or not. Self-publishing means having full creative control and freedom. And it means not making corporations rich while I'd get mere scraps. In the end, I want to be able to tell my story under my conditions, not someone else's.

Phillip wrote: "I wish I had that problem."

Hah, right. I almost went to buy fireworks when I saw I had 20 KENP recorded for March, which is the first since... you read the book. Back in late 2020.

To me, it sounds good.

As someone who is a slow writer and working on a series, I plan to start when book 3 is nearly done (I'm now entering the late stage for book two). Simply because series are easier to promote (you have the potential to sell the sequels in addition to the first book) and because with the amount of books out there, people may easily forget you if the gaps between books are long.

I'm back to revive this thread... again.
Working draft of Eternity's end, book three in my in-progress series.

Tyr’eshal’s head dropped and a few tears escaped his eyes. “Jandiel’s father… was the last Darkwood to die naturally of old age. Since the Order was founded… all my ancestors died on battlefields. Of the last five generations, none lived long enough to know their grandchildren.” He stared into the distance for a moment, shook his head, and continued. “My father said he thinks our family is cursed.” Tyr’eshal let out a hysterical chuckle, then shook his head again. “We are the curse, in our dedication to protect our world at any cost. This is the price we pay for our superior skills and our selflessness – we die young.”

Yeah, that could be it. I know that when it asked me for a tax ID, I mashed in my country's one, and Amazon pretty much hasn't asked me anything since, so it's hard to recall where it was. Hence why I wasn't able to provide a more precise answer. Glad that someone in the group came up with the solution.

I'm from Europe, not from Canada, but I think Amazon sends me some tax information each year. I pretty much ignore it as my country has a deal with the USA, so I registered with my country's tax ID and the tax is collected here.
Well, would be, if I had any income, but that's not the point here.

It can have a lot of reasons from bad targetting (keywords, authors, whatever you're using) through the "packaging" of your books (especially cover and description must give a clear picture of your genre) to book price. Compare those aspects to other books in your genre and see if there's something that's possibly putting people off from buying your book once they get to the book page...